Author: Tenhawk
Title: Road Trip : Solo
Copyright: January 2001
Rating: PG
Keywords: Buffy/ Highlander/Charmed/Nightman/Nash Bridges/Kindred/Angel
Summary : After Christmas
'98 Xander makes a little delivery run to the friends and allies of Section Seven... and manages to get
himself into as much trouble as ever could on the Hellmouth.
Legalese: All characters except those noted below with their respective rights, properties and
copyrights are the property of their respective creators, authors, owners, producers and agencies.
These characters are used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended or meant, and no
money will be made from this story. This story may be copied in its entirety, and may be distributed as
long as all copyright information remains.
Highlander: All rights and properties belong to Rysher Entertainment.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: All rights and properties belong to Joss Whedon, Fox Studios and Mutant
Enemy, etc.
GI Joe and the Shadowclan: All rights and properties belong to Marvel Comics and Hasbro Toys
Nightman : All rights and properties belong to Marvel Comics.
Nash Bridges : Nash Bridges, its characters and situations are the creative and intellectual property of
The Don Johnson Company, The Netshow and CBS.
Kindred the Embraced: All creative rights are the current property of Spelling entertainment and White
Wolf Games.
Here are the changes from normal shows that may play a part in this story:
Buffy :
Xander has been empowered by Robin Goodfellow to be a mystically enhanced warrior. The
empowerment also allows him to recall considerably more of the Soldier Boy memories from his
Halloween possession.
The character Steven St. Wolf is property of Steve Pantovich, as is the universe in which this story takes
place. Steve can be contacted at steve711@concentric.net
Sunnydale
26 December, 1998 - 04:00 PST
Xander Harris whistled to himself as he passed Sunnydale town limits, letting the van's powerful engine out to play. It was ironic that here, in the town he and his friends had pulled from the brink of destruction a dozen times and more, was the one place in the entire state where he had to lay low. The local cops, Det. Stein in particular, where looking for any reason to haul him and his friends to prison. <Like Steve would let that happen.> Xander grinned for a moment, he pitied any cops who tried... but even so, it didn't pay to buy unnecessary trouble.
//Do you really have to go so fast, the blurs make me sick.//
Xander's head snapped over to the small cat who was looking out the passenger window.
"Don't look out the side window, look ahead. and take some deep breathes Patches." <God, don't upchuck in here. It's a long way to L.A. and we're on the freeway now.>
The cat seemed to grin at him, //You didn't have to ask me along Xander.//
Xander's smile dropped for a brief moment, <Yeah well, Christmas with my dad isn't something I'd wish on anyone. Everyone deserves a break, and I got the others to cover my family for a couple days.>
//It's always good to stretch ones tail Xander, thanks for the diversion.//
"No worries Patches. Enjoy the ride, I need to stretch my own 'tail' for a bit. Yesterday was fun, but last night at home was *not*."
There was no response from the patchwork cat, he'd never admit it but he loved his charge. He was, however, reserving judgement when it came to the family. He had already spent a fair fraction of his time dodging various directed and undirected kicks from Xander's father. How could he be expected to protect the house if that damned man wouldn't let him out of Xander's room?
Xander, noticing the smart ass cat's quiet moment, forced an evil grin. "Come on Patches, get in the spirit! Road Trip!"
//Yeah!!// Once again Xander was struck by the eerie impression of a grin on a cats face. //A guys only trip huh?//
Xander's grin was no longer forced, "Right on, kitty cat. Right on."
//It would be better if Cordelia and Ariel had come along.//
Xander chuckled, "Cordy has some family time scheduled for the next few days. She had to compromise with her dad to score Christmas and New years for us."
//Yeah but I miss the free entertainment when you two are together.// The cat replied in a decidedly snarky tone.
"Hey!"
They had barely been on the freeway for ten minutes when Xander noticed a white police interceptor in his rearview, closing fast.
"Right on time."
The fast car pulled abreast of the van and the cop in the passenger seat smiled up at Xander and threw him a fast salute as the mustang pulled ahead. In front of the van the police car accelerated away.
<Not for long.> Xander grinned and put the pedal down, letting the big engine out even more.
The police interceptor accelerated faster then the van could, pulling away until the tail lights were all Xander could see in the distance. Xander grinned, the cop must have wanted to take advantage of the lack of traffic on the freeway, a game that was fine with him. The vans accelerator was flat to the floor now and the cops taillights were growing closer by the second. A glance down told Xander that the van was doing an easy one twenty and climbing before he pulled it back a bit and merely allowed the Van to maintain its current speed. Less then a minute later the police interceptor was looming large in front of him and he let off the gas long enough to match speed with the sports car. <Man, do I love the toys that Steve lets us play with.>
In the passenger seat Patches was looking peculiarly flushed for someone covered in fur. //Yeah! lets show this joker what we can really do!//
Xander laughed, <I thought you were sick.>
//Feel better now.//
Xander chuckled as he reached down for a radio ear-piece, <not right now. Business first.>
"Santa's Sleigh to unit four oh one. that the best you can do?" Xander taunted mildly, a grin evident even in his voice. <ok, so I mix business and pleasure. Sue me.>
//Nah, lawyers give me a rash.//
"Wise ass." Xander somehow managed to keep his face straight, but his voice was filled with fondness for the feline.
The radio crackled a second later, echoing laughter from the police ahead. "Santa's Sleigh? Aren't you a day late?"
"What can I say, first I deliver the toys to the good little girls and boys... THEN you jokers get your chunks of coal."
The radio crackled again with laughter, Xander let it go on for a moment before breaking in again. "So, tell me now, why are you guys riding shotgun for me? We got your message about the escort but not why."
The cops voice was a bit grimmer when he came back, "Boys downtown got a call about a drug shipment coming into L.A. from Sunnydale. Yokel by the name of Stein tipped Vice, gave 'em your description, the van, license number, etcetera. When he gave them your name though, one of the uniforms recognized it and told Stein to shove it. Captain thought a little insurance would be wise."
Xander took a deep breath, Stein was becoming a major pain. <Gonna have to look into how he knows so much about us.>
"Roger that Four Oh One. Thanks for the intel, I'll be sure to check up on it when I get back."
"We figured you would."
As L.A. loomed up Xander slowed and called one last goodbye to his escort as he pulled off the freeway and took an exit into the city. It had been a few weeks since his last patrol in the city of angels, and Xander grinned to himself as he was momentarily pleased to see the city was still intact. <I have got to get that ego under control.>
//Fat chance.//
"Oh shut up."
Xander whistles happily to himself as he turns the van into Buster's parking lot, noting with pleasure the two SWAT vans waiting for him. Xander moves his van carefully in between the two others and slips her into park, turning the key he hops out and stretches while taking a deep breath.
"Ahhh... been sitting too long," Xander was suddenly wracked by a coughing fit, "damn I hate that smog."
Xander pulled open the sliding door as he noticed a small group of people leave Buster's. Ignoring them for a moment he pulled a long black trench coat from the van and sweeps it over his shoulders. Even in December, L.A. didn't come close to being cool enough to warrant a coat like this but it did hide a multitude of sins. After shrugging his arms into the coat's sleeves he glanced back at the group approaching him.
"Cody, Kelly. Long time. Truce still holding I see?" Xander said as he flashes them a grin.
Cody was the first to respond, "Barely. These jack asses like their practical jokes too much for my taste."
The round of chuckles was punctuated by Xander's snort, "Keep away from Sunnydale then Cody. Compared to some of our team these guys are rank amateurs."
Xander could almost hear the Immortal members of the Zombies snap to attention as a gleam in their eyes bespoke of a challenge offered and accepted. <Hmmmm, this may have some possibilities. Nahhh, Shaw'd kill me if I involved outsiders.>
Kelly looked Xander over for a moment, and grinned. "Nice coat kid. Step up from what you were wearing last time I saw ya."
Xander glanced down and the long black coat and reddened slightly, "It's a gift from my boss. But I think our girlfriends had a hand in it, they seem hell bent to 'fix' my fashion sense. I just thank god that Steve has a practical mind."
The officers glanced at each other, slightly bemused by Xander's statement. Before they can ask Xander moved back to the van.
"Back to business for a moment shall we?" Xander reached into the Van and pulled out a small case.
"What have you got for us that requires Section Seven to pay a personal visit?"
Xander smiles and unsnapped the case and opened it for inspection. Inside are four metal flasks nestled into foam packing material.
Cody is the first to speak, "What is it?"
"Healing droughts." Xander's face hardens at the sudden grins around him, "Before you get too excited understand this, these things don't grow on trees. Do NOT waste them. If you can get your man to the hospital then DO SO. These are particularly expensive and time consuming to make, and while we've got the cash the only people we have in this league are normally too busy on the front lines to cackle around a cauldron, if you know what I mean."
Most of the men look at each other with only partial comprehension but the two SWAT leaders glance at each other and back at Xander before nodding, "We understand."
"Good. Then I impart you this gift from Section Seven, use it well." Xander grinned again as he handed the case over to Kelly.
"Thanks kid. How come your up here over the holidays anyway?"
Xander shrugged, "Had some free time, decided to save someone else the trip. My girl has a family deal going," He paused, and smiled, "necessary evil. She spends family time for the next couple days and we get Christmas and New years." Kelly and the Zombies grinned, "You got both days? She loves ya pal."
Xander grinned and nodded happily.
"Care to come in for a coffee, kid?" Cody motioned to Buster's behind him.
"Sure, I've got a long day ahead of me. Could use a little wake up juice."
Before turning to leave Xander looks back into the van, "Care to stretch your legs a bit kitty cat?"
To the astonished and amused looks of the SWAT team members a small patchwork cat daintily hopped out of the van, gave each of them a long condescending look before walking around the van.
"What the hell was that?"
Xander looked over at the SWAT members and shrugged. "Bodyguard."
The group stared at him for a long moment before they apparently decided to accept that at face value and began to turn towards Buster's Bar and Grill.
//Xander! Twelve freaks coming in... they don't smell right.//
Xander stopped and turned around, causing the SWAT members to pause as well and look at him with curiosity. Xander ignored them and pulled a small monocular scope from his pocket. Putting it to his eyes he checked out the crew moving down the street like they owned it. //You called it Patches, Vamps.//
Xander turned back to the Swat crew behind him, "Twelve Vamps coming up the street guys. What are you packing?"
By way of answer each of the men pulled their service pistols and ejected the clips to the ground. They reached into their belts and replaced the ejected clips with new ones that Xander noticed were carefully marked with black tape.
"Ready to roll. How did you id 'em as Vamps?"
Xander shrugged, "Pocket infrared scope. Useful for covert stakeouts and anytime you might have to deal with civilians, nice little gadget. I'll show it to you later."
"Right."
The six men moved out of the parking lot and stepped carefully in front of the approaching vampires. As the vampires closed to fifty yards they stopped and stared at the small group of men who were blocking their path.
The Vamps glanced at each other and smiled, "Food."
As the vampires charged the six defenders raised their pistols and opened fire. To depressingly little effect. The vampires didn't even stagger as the wooden bullets unerringly found the center of their chests.
It was Cody who first realized what was happening, "Damn! They're wearing vests!"
It was Xander's turn to curse at that revelation as his Glock 19 clicked dry. "Then we go up close and personal."
The three immortals behind him nodded, pulling their swords from beneath their coats, but the two mortals behind him look at each other in worry. Xander pulled two more pistols from under his trench coat and tossed them casually over shoulder as he started to go into action, "Here, Catch! Head shots only people. Double tap 'em!"
The two mortal cops caught the pistols awkwardly as Xander and the three immortals surged forward towards the vampires. Xander reached behind his back and grasped the pommel of his sword, Deathstalker. A quick twist and the snaps that held it in place came loose and Xander slid the blade smoothly from its sheath. Behind the charging group the two mortal SWAT officers quickly spread apart, angling for shots that wouldn't endanger their comrades.
Kelly, Sanchez, and Ricker were hot on Xander's heels as the four swordsmen charged the vampire gang.
<Damn this kid is faster then I remember.> Kelly watched as the flamberge blade swept into sight. <Shit. Wonder if he knows how to use that thing?>
As the two groups converged on each other Xander and the others could hear the distinctive report of the two Glock pistols behind them. Xander grinned as the first double pop heralded one of the vamps disintegrating into dust. <Good shooting guys.>
A low growl sounded from behind the charging warriors causing Xander to grin. <Nice of you to join the fun.>
//Hey, a change is as good as a vacation.//
"Wise ass."
The huge saber tooth tiger flew past them into the group of suddenly terrified vampires, causing the three immortals charging to pause with a shocked expression on their faces.
Xander felt the sudden pause in the charge behind him and glanced back with a grin, "I told you he was a bodyguard!"
A second later Xander was too occupied with the Vampires to give his comrades reactions a second thought.
<Teamwork, professional, quick, lethal.> The man in black was standing high on the roof of a building across the street from the fight. He watched as the first three vamps were dusted by pistol fire. The four charging warriors were his main focus, however, especially the young boy leading them.
<He's fast. That's going to change the plan.> A moment later a slight hint of motion in his spyglasses attracted his attention. <What is that? a cat? What in the hell?>
A moment later the man's binoculars hit the rooftop with a shattering sound as the lens shards sparkled on the long fall to the ground. <A guardian spirit. All the Gods be damned! How in hell did that young pup bond a Guardian Spirit? They're all dead!>
On ground level the vampires were rapidly learning that they had walked into the wrong part of town and were looking desperately for a way out.
"Run!"
The four surviving vamps split and ran, trying desperately to get clear of the four windmill like blades they were faced off against. Another double pop from each side left two Vamps dusted and the remaining two froze in their tracks. Slowly they turned, their game faces on as they tried to intimidate the opposition.
"What do you people want?"
Xander's smile was cold, and a fair site more intimidating then the demonic visage he was facing. "Nothing at all."
With that Xander lunged forward, his kris style blade slicing neatly through the vampire's kevlar vest like a knife through butter. The vampire screamed in pain while the thrice blessed weapon carved his insides as Xander twisted the blade around, quickly withdrew it and slashed it down across the doubled over vampires neck.
The vampire dusted and Xander turned to see the last one try to bolt. A quick sweep of Kelly's sword reduced him to his component atoms.
Kelly stared at Xander for a long moment, taking in the boy's casual stance, as his eyes swept the street looking for stragglers. <Speed, power, and absolutely ruthless. His technique is a little rough though. Still, I don't think I've ever seen a mortal this dangerous.>
Cody and Murphy approached slowly, their pistols trained carefully on the saber tooth tiger now purring contentedly as it rubbed against Xander's legs.
"Relax guys. Patches," Xander looked down, "I think you've scared our friends enough."
//You sure? The look on their faces is funny.// Patches sneezed as he laughed, a deep, throaty, and completely unhumorous sound coming from a saber tooth tiger.
"Patches."
//Oh ok.// A moment later patches was once again a small, harmless, cat brushing against Xander's legs.
As Xander bent and picked up the cat the assembled group looked on in awe.
"I don't want to know." Kelly was shaking his head as the group began to walk back towards Buster's.
Xander grinned, "Good call."
Cody looked down at the pistol in his hands in confusion, "What *I* do want to know is how did we kill those vamps with head shots? I thought that wooden bullets only worked with a heart shot?"
Xander shrugged, "They do. I dutch load my mags with wood and enchanted silver in case I run into a demon. It's not supposed to be necessary for your average vampire hunter, but since I hang out with the Slayer and the Wanderer it's paid off in the past, and no doubt will in the future."
"So that's why you said to double tap them?" Murphy looked on in understanding.
"Yep. Now, lets go get that cup shall we?"
The group nodded as one and walked back to Buster's, leaving a dozen piles of dust blowing in the street behind them.
Buster's Diner, LA
26 December, 1998 - 07:23 PST
"Your kidding right?"
Xander grimaced slightly as he shook his head, "I wish. Nope, this guy was me. But he was a vamp. One of the sickest bad-asses around from what we found out. Real piece of work."
"So you guys really can give a vamp back his soul?" Cody looked a little disturbed.
"Yeah," Xander answered, "but its not something we can do on a large scale. Aside from the fact that disturbing the sleep of the dead isn't high on our list of good ideas, most vamps probably couldn't handle the massive overload of guilt their memories would cause. My alternate damn near killed himself, it was damned lucky he had the strength to fight through it."
The SWAT officers looked at each other for a long moment, a clear message passing back and forth. Each of them were quite certain that luck had little to nothing to do with it. Not if that vamp had been anything like the young man sitting in front of them.
"Man the world is becoming a weirder place by the day ever since July." Kelly was shaking his head as he downed another cup of coffee, "First Vamps and demons, and now this sci-fi shit."
"Tell me about it man. I'm starting to think of my first couple years fighting vampires as the good old days."
The men around the table chuckled with good nature at the idea, life certainly seemed to have gotten more and more tangled as they exposed each new layer of the true world around them.
Xander finally sort of shrugs his shoulders and says, "Guess the job's still the same though. Down 'n dirty with no recognition."
The men eye each other across the table until finally they each smile and speak as one, "Wouldn't have it any other way."
The sun had risen a couple hours earlier and the heat was starting to build when Xander and the SWAT officers arrived at the LAPD training facility.
Cody turned to Xander and grinned, "We've been wanting to get one of you Section Seven kids up here since July."
"Oh really?" Xander was all smiles, he could smell a prank in the wind. These guys really were rank amateurs compared to his friends. <Of course living with a seriously disturbed half-elf and a wise-ass Faery have probably heightened my standards when it comes to this sort of thing.>
<Cool.> Xander looked around the facility, noting what was available to the officers for training. Outside he could see a fairly elaborate obstacle course as well as several sand training pits. Xander was also fairly certain he could hear the tell tale pops of gunfire from outside, so they had a target range on site. <Serious un-surprise.>
Cody guided Xander through the halls, ignoring the occasional stares from various officers as they passed by. Cody grinned, "Sorry kid, but these guys don't generally trust young punks in black trench coats walking through here."
Xander grinned in return, "You should see the reaction Sunnydale. These guys are very friendly in comparison."
"Yeah we heard about that. Your town has the highest 'accident' rate in the country. Probably the world, but records from some third world countries are sketchy," Cody grinned, "We checked. What the hell is wrong in that town?"
"Cops are on the take, near as we can tell. Any honest ones usually wind up dead or buried so deep in the department they never see the light of day, and trust me in Sunnydale that's a *bad* thing. And since the cause of all the 'accidents' are supernatural in nature its pretty tough to establish any chain of evidence against the police." Xander's eyes were slightly downcast as he spoke, "No one wants to hear about a vampire murder when it can be blamed on a street gang on PCP."
His escorts were nodding to themselves, hard and angry looks on their faces when new voice from a side room spoke up.
"Ain't that the truth."
A young dark skinned man walked out of a room, looking at the group with interest. When his eyes fell on Xander he spoke to the SWAT members. "Who's your friend in the spooky coat?"
Cody slipped between them as he spoke up, "Gunn, this is Xander. He's part of Section Seven's core team. Xander, this is Gunn. He's been helping us clear the streets of a few Vampire gang-bangers."
Xander shook his head in disgust, "Gangbangers? What the hell are the vamps coming to anyway?"
Gunn was sizing up Xander with an appraising eye, "This is one of Sec Seven's big bads? Don't look like much."
Xander grinned, the guy was a tough and suddenly he was starting to think that the prank he could smell in the air wasn't aimed at him. Xander turned to Cody and asked, "What's he doing here?"
"We're trying to convince him that some line discipline and intensive training would benefit his crew." Cody looked back to Gunn, "Care to try your hand in a little one on one with Section Seven?"
Gunn hesitated a brief moment, he hadn't met most of the Section Seven team but the ones he did meet were something else. Still, this guy looked like someone he could understand. Just another kid who got caught up in something bigger then he was, and got changed by it.
Xander watched the guy size him up, and almost smiled as he saw the analysis written all over Gunn's face. He thought back to what Amy had to say about the guy. <Strong, tough, more then a little full of himself, but a community leader type. I'll take it easy on him.>
Gunn finally came to a decision, <This guy's just another punk kid.>, "Sounds like fun."
"What do you suggest we start with Cody?" Xander managed to keep his face straight as he spoke.
"The obstacle course?" Xander looked over the course, disappointed.
"Sure, why not?"
"I was hoping for some exercise." Xander deadpanned.
Gunn looked over at the young man with an odd look, "Who is this guy?"
The SWAT officers looked on in amusement, "He's the guy who took down a half dozen vamps this morning with a sword."
Gunn looked at the group with disgust on his face, "Great, another Zorro wannabe."
Xander gave the cops a curious look, "You guys got up close on the last mission I take it?"
Kelly grinned while Cody grimaced, "Damn right. Only way to handle the situation."
Gunn snorted, "Give me those wooden bullets you guys play with any day. Even when we were using stakes we kept looking for a better way to handle things. Flamethrower was the best we could manage."
Xander gave him a look of professional interest, "Flamethrower? What model? One of the old M1 or M2 models I suppose? Or were you able to get one of the foreign jobs?"
Gunn looked between Xander and the SWAT officers with a incredulous look on his face, "Who IS this guy?"
Cody chuckled as he spoke, "They improvised a unit from a blowtorch and some homemade napalm."
Xander laugh out loud as they entered the start area, "Not bad. Not bad at all. Still," he continued curiously, "Why didn't you get some water guns and *borrow* some holy water from the church? It's a little lower key but extremely effective."
Gunn looked stunned for a moment, he jaw working as he tried to speak. Finally he managed to say, "We didn't think of that."
Xander nodded, "Must be the inner city mind. We were a bunch of suburb brats, lethal stuff wasn't high on our minds."
Xander grinned at the look on Gunn's face before he continued, "Mind you, when we did need the stronger stuff we were a bit more creative then you bunch."
Even the SWAT officers looked curious at this so Xander continued, "We once broke into a military storehouse and stole a Strella antitank missile when a particularly nasty demon showed up in town."
Xander broke out laughing at the expressions on the faces around him, "Should of seen the mess we made of the shopping mall the Judge was visiting."
The group followed Xander as he moved up to the start of the course, looking over the facilities with a quick glance. the SWAT officers were looking at each other, wondering if Xander was serious or not. No one spoke until Xander turned back with a grin and continued.
"The Judge never bothered to dodge. You see according to prophecy or something, the Judge couldn't be harmed by weapons forged by man, so he figured he was invulnerable. He only forgot one thing."
Gunn looked at the teen telling him this insane story and could only managed one word. "What?"
Xander grinned again, an evil smile that would have scared everyone present had they thought it was directed at them. "In Buffy's words? That was then, this is now."
The SWAT officers suddenly grinned as they got the joke, but Gunn just kept staring. "Your kidding right? You fired off a rocket in a shopping mall?"
Xander shrugged, "The judge would have annihilated everyone in Sunnydale at least, perhaps the planet if he had his way. We would be quieter about the operation if it happened now, but at the time brute force seemed called for."
Xander stretched a couple times as he watched Gunn strip off his excess clothing in preparation for the course. When the young man was finished Xander looked at him appraisingly and asked, "You ready?"
Gunn looked at him in disbelief, "Your going to wear *that*?"
Xander looked down at the long coat he was wearing for a moment, weighing the options in his mind. "Nope your right. This isn't quite right."
Gunn looked vindicated until Xander called out to Kelly, "Hey, you guys got any training packs?"
The Zombie grinned and nodded, "How much you want?"
"Make it a hundred pounds."
Kelly grinned and shook his head as he went off to find the item.
"What the hell are you talking about? A hundred pounds?"
Xander let out a breath and mentally switched to his 'green beret' mode before turning back to Gunn, "Yeah, my load out isn't quite up to mission specs. A hundred pounds should about cover the armor, rifle, machine pistols, knives, grenades, electronics, and ammo I'm missing."
Gunn stared at him for a moment before asking, "What the hell are you talking about?"
Xander looked at Gunn's clothes pointedly, "You hunt vamps dressed like that?"
Gunn looked down at his tee shirt, shorts, and runners before looking back at the kid in front of him. "Hell no."
"Then what's the point of working out like that?"
Gunn stared at Xander for a long moment, trying to respond. Finally Kelly returned with the pack and Xander shrugged it over his shoulders.
"You ready?" He asked Gunn with a crooked grin.
Gunn just shook his head in disbelief as he toed the line across from Xander and waited for the signal. Kelly raised his hand and held it there for a long moment, looking between the two teenagers to make sure they were ready. Finally he dropped his hand in a quick flash and yelled. "Go!"
Gunn was sweating an breathing hard when he finally crossed the finish line, several full minutes behind Xander. He looked around for the teen he had been running against only to find him, still wearing that damned pack, doing pushups on his knuckles.
Gunn stared at him in disbelief, "Jesus man, you have to be as strong as a vamp!"
Xander hopped up, a serious look on his face, "Nope. Vamps are a full order of magnitude stronger then I am. Most of 'em anyway. Luckily most of 'em are pretty soft from years of preying on unsuspecting civilians."
"Soft!" Gunn's voice carried a long distance, distracting people around, "You call them soft?"
"Damn right. You think that you could take a vamp who had serious martial training? How about police or military background? The old Vamps mostly don't know shit about firearms tactics and the new ones who might are usually so drunk on their own power they can't see straight. *Usually*. Be careful, you may run into a hard case someday. If you do," Xander continued with no hint of humor on his face, "be smart. Call for help."
Xander shrugged the pack off his shoulders and walked off with it, leaving Gunn behind with the two SWAT captains.
Cody managed to keep a straight face as he asked, "You think you can get your crew to accept some training?"
Gunn just nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak for the moment.
Xander was dropping the pack off in the supply room when Kelly walked up to him and spoke, "Thanks kid, we've been trying to convince him of the benefits but he's a stubborn one."
"No problem. Anything that keeps another group alive and hunting is worth a little effort." Xander grinned suddenly, "But I don't suppose you want me to tell him that I have a magical edge?"
Kelly grinned back, "I'd rather you left that out, yeah."
Xander laughed, "Ok fine, but when he does find out, *you* better take the bullet for me. At least you'll get back up."
Kelly kept on grinning, "Deal. But if he has a sword your on your own."
The group had reassembled in the lounge area and were dropping stories and tales of woe back and forth, to the occasional amusement of those SWAT officers within earshot.
"Xander, how long are you going to be in town?" Cody asked.
"I have to be in 'Frisco tomorrow morning to meet with the SIU and the Stormshadow's. T'ill then, well, I've got some time on my hands. Why?"
"I was wondering if you'd go out with Gunn's crew tonight, do a patrol of their neighborhood."
Xander looked over Cody's shoulder for a moment, checking with Gunn. The young man nodded, albeit reluctantly and Xander turned his attention back to Cody. "Sure. Sounds like a heck of an evening."
Cody grinned and thanked Xander before he and Kelly took off, leaving the two teens alone.
"Hey Gunn, when and where do you want me to meet you?"
Gunn looked at him for a moment, "Where are you going?"
"Back to my van. If I'm going to patrol with you guys I'm gonna need my sleep. I have an early day tomorrow."
Gunn nodded and thought about it, "Look man, you want a couch? I got room at our digs."
Xander thought about it for a moment, then he nodded. "Alright man, lets go. I'll give you a lift."
"This is your ride?"
Xander looked at the van, then back to Gunn, with a puzzled expression. "What's wrong with it?"
"Nothing man. Its just..." Gunn trailed off for a moment, "I don't know, I expected something more James Bond."
Xander grinned, "I suppose we could manage that, but other then the babe factor what would be the point?"
"The babe factor isn't enough for you?"
"If my girlfriend even thought I was driving something just for the babe factor I wouldn't be in any position to EVER take advantage of that kind of thing again."
Gunn grimaced at the image as he hopped in the passenger seat, only to wind up leaping back out when a screaming fur-ball took a swipe at his ass. "Holy son of a bitch! What the hell is that thing?"
Xander stifled a laugh before studiously looking into the van with a serious expression. "I think it's a cat."
Gunn was furious, "I know it's a god damned cat! what the hell is it doing trying to take a piece out of my ass!"
"Two things Gunn. Number One," Xander held up a finger, "You tried to sit on him, what did you expect? And Two, if he had been trying to take a piece out of your ass you'd still be looking for your cheeks."
//That's telling him Xander. Who is the bozo anyway?//
"Patches, meet Gunn. Gunn, this is Patches," Xander thought about leaving that as it was for a moment but couldn't resist continuing, "my bodyguard."
Gunn stared at the cat, then across the van to Xander. His gazed shifted between the two while his hands checked the seat of his pants for holes, "I believe it."
"Gunn! Man, 'bout time you got back. Those cops still hassling you about us?"
"Naw man, they just looking to help." Gunn looked vaguely uncomfortable, "And I'm... I'm starting to think they're right."
The young man who had greeted Gunn looked shocked, "Are you nuts? we don't need nothing those pigs can give us..."
The kid trailed off as Xander stepped into the old warehouse behind Gunn, taking in his black coat and oddly goofy grin with distrust before turning back to Gunn.
"Who the hell is this punk, Gunn?"
"Chill Pablo. This is Xander, he's one of the Sec Seven dudes who were out of town before. He had some business in town and he's offered help us patrol tonight, maybe see if we can take out a nest if we can find the bastards."
Xander ignored the conversation and meandered into the room, muttering to himself. "barely defensible, too many ways in and out, those windows aren't covered properly. Jesus, this place is the next thing to a death trap. Hey Gunn! You guys have any defenses here?"
"What the hell!? Who do you think you are to ask us about our defenses?" Pablo started cursing at Xander.
Xander ignored him, "Gunn?"
"We've got flame throwers and crossbows rigged on trip wires at the routes we don't use. We have at least a dozen men in here every night standing guard, armed with flame throwers and some pistols with the wooden ammo we got from you guys last time."
"That'll do I guess."
Pablo looked at Gunn, outraged. "He guesses!?"
"How about the sewers? You have them covered of course?"
"Of course." Gunn looked smug.
"Good." Xander looked back at the door, "Patches!"
Pablo stared at the small cat running across the room. <what the hell?>
"I'm going to crash now, this couch looks good enough. Wake me for the hunt."
Xander reached under his coat and unsnapped the straps that kept Deathstalker fastened to his torso and pulled the sheathed blade out. Not bothering to remove his coat he dropped into the couch. His sword cradled in the crook of his left arm while the right firmly gripped the hilt.
Pablo watched speechless as the small patchwork cat hopped up and lay down, curling itself in the crook of the teens neck. Pablo turned to Gunn, "Who the hell is this guy?"
Gunn didn't bother to answer, he just turned and headed for the inner rooms. Pablo shrugged and, with a final glare at Xander followed him. Both of the street warriors could hear the soft snores coming from the couch before they were halfway to the door.
Dusk was a couple hours away when Gunn's crew had started to assemble at their base of operations, bringing with them the most amazing variety of weapons. As the group met together a single train of thought was running through each of their heads. It took forty five minutes for one of them to put voice to the thought that each felt.
"Who the hell is sleeping beauty on the couch out there?"
Gunn grinned at the bluntness of the question, only Jaina would ever have phrased it that way. "His name is Xander Harris, he's volunteered to help out with tonights hunt."
A chorus of groans and yells sounded in the room.
"Who the hell is he?"
"Is he any good?"
"Can he be trusted?"
"We don't need no help from white bread out there!"
This last comment was greeted with considerably support, and Gunn decided to try to change that attitude. "Hey! We need any help we can get. And since he's one of SecSeven's agents, and he's volunteering for tonight only, I plan on taking advantage of his offer."
The yelling died down to a low mutter when Gunn laid down the law, many of them weren't happy but Gunn was the man who kept them alive.
//Xander. Wake up! some people are sneaking around outside, and I don't think they belong here!//
Xander's eyes snapped open, his body tensing as it pushed all the weariness from his cells. He'd never been able to wake up like this before, another benefit of Robin's manipulations he supposed. <Although, on second thought judging from Oz that's not one of the benefits.>
Xander grinned at the thought as he hopped up, <Maybe it's the green beret training?>
Pushing his thoughts aside Xander strapped his sword back into place, and looked around the darkened room for a moment before walking towards the light coming from a nearby doorway. When he reached the door he heard the arguments and mutters from inside and stopped at the door frame, leaning in plain sight with an amused look on his face.
Gunn was moving through the room, checking weapons and giving moral support to those he felt needed it. A shadow at the door attracted his attention and he saw Xander lean against the door, looking like he was watching something funny.
"Something funny in here Harris?"
Xander watched the faces in the room swivel to look at him, and he raised his hands in a patented 'who me?' gesture. "Funny? depends on what you mean by funny."
The glares he was received told Xander that he'd better clear up his meaning, and fast. "Watching you guys is a lot like looking back a few years at myself and the old team. And if you want funny, just consider our old name. I called the team, myself included, 'The Slayerettes'."
Xander's crooked grin and humor won over a portion of the crowd, but some remained unconvinced. "What are you doing here white bread?"
Xander dropped the smile, his whole body stiffening, "I'm letting you guys know that you have a bunch of people sneaking around outside your headquarters. You missing any people tonight?"
The room got cold as Gunn did a fast head count, "Everyone's here!"
Xander nodded as he heard the breathes of relief, at least no one had been turned. "Ok, then that leaves a couple other options." Xander held up his fingers, "One, they followed somebody. Two, they lucked into your locations. or Three, false alarm and we have some civilians wandering around the area after dark."
Gunn looked at Xander for a moment before asking, "How do you know anyone is out there?"
Xander quirked a grin, "My cat told me."
With that Xander turned and left the area, heading out to greet the visitors.
Back in the large room Xander checked his twin Glock 18's and the Berreta he was carrying. He briefly cursed himself for leaving his heavier weapons in the van, but it hadn't seemed necessary to sleep with an MP5 or two slung to his shoulders. <Live and learn.>
//Lets get these guys!//
<No!> Xander's mental voice was firm, <Its too early in the evening and there are too many potential witnesses. Stay out of this one unless things go south.>
The cat looked sourly at Xander before reluctantly agreeing. //All right. But your ruining my vacation.>
"Wise ass." Xander whispered under his breath.
//Proud of it.// replied Patches.
As he reached the door he could hear Gunn and two of his crew come up behind him. Xander flicked his hand back, motioning them to silence, then silently opened the door.
Outside he could here whispers from a fair distance off.
"You sure this is the place?"
"Yeah. The guy was specific when he called. That psycho Gunn and his crew are in here."
"Gonna love chewing those bastards up."
"That's not the job. We're here for the other."
"Yeah I know, I know. Hey man, what's with the vests anyway? We're Vampires for hells sake, bullets don't hurt us."
"How the hell should I know. This is the way the guy wanted it. We get the target, we wear the vests, we do whatever else the guy says. You got a problem with that?"
"No... no... no problem. The damn thing itches though."
"Yeah I know... lets get this over with."
Xander moved back and quietly closed the door, turning to Gunn he whispered, "Hey man, what are you guys packing in those guns of yours?"
Gunn grinned, "Wooden bullets man. Some we got from you guys and some we started loading ourselves. They work man, I tested them myself."
Xander shook his head, "Bring up the flame throwers, these vamps are packing armored vests."
Gunn looked shocked. "What? are you nuts? Vamps don't go in for that stuff."
"I know damn it, but these bastards must be hooked up with the ones I dusted this morning. Why do you think I resorted to swordplay?"
Gunn nodded reluctantly and moved back to inform his people of the situation. Xander watched the crew reorganize itself, a makeshift Fire Team <literally.> moving up to the front lines. Xander pulled his Berreta from under his coat and handed it back to Gunn.
"I thought you said they had vests?"
"They do. Double pop the 'living impaired' freaks in the head. Every second bullet is enchanted silver, it'll do the job."
Gunn nodded as Xander drew a pair of twin Glocks and prepared to move out. A brief glance back at Gunn confirmed that his people were ready to move so Xander gently pushed the door open a sliver and listened again. The whispering was over but his hearing was good enough to hear the nearly silent scuffing the vampires made as they moved.
Xander glanced back, nodded to Gunn, and then rolled through, opening the door as he passed. He came out of the roll three feet outside, his twin pistols aimed at two vamps with shocked looks on their faces.
He stared over the rails of his pistols for a long second before his instincts took over and the muzzle flashes burned deep into his retinas.
Pa-pow! Pa-pow!
The first two vamps disintegrated into dust as Xander's semi-conscious mind began tallying the opposition. <Not good.> The back of his mind stopped counting when he hit thirty vamped-out faces. He could hear the curses and gunshots as Gunn and his crew entered the fray and started adding the numbers themselves.
"Shit! How many of the fang faces *are* there?!" Gunn sounded more angry then frightened, something that pissed Xander off instantly.
Xander prayed for a nonexistent moment that Gunn used anger to mask fear the way he himself used his not so subtle humor, because if Gunn actually wasn't frightened then Xander figured he was fighting along side a lunatic. And that idea suddenly struck him as the most frightening thing he had ever faced.
"Shut up and get the fire team out here!" Xander was in no mood for messing around. The situation had become lethally serious.
On another roof this time the same man watched the battle commence. He had expected to see a vampire invasion, a surprise attack on a group of barely prepared street thugs. Instead the fire fight began several minutes ahead of schedule when the target dropped the hammer on two of the undead killers for hire the man had sent against him.
<Damn this kid is fast. I'm starting to see why he's worth so much.> The man grinned suddenly, it twisted his face in a sinister manner. <Or rather, why his head is worth so much.>
The kid's first shots eliminated the closest vampires quickly and seemed to put the fear of god into the rest, or at least a heck of a shock. A couple seconds later another kid popped out beside him, firing a single pistol into the advancing horde. The man in black watched the fight with fascination as two children, hardly old enough to drive, laid down covering fire while a fire team sets up some kind of weaponry behind them.
<Good tactics. How does a brat from the suburbs learn small unit tactics like that? Going to have to isolate him. Take him out when he's alone.>
The fire team had apparently completed their setup as one of them tapped the second young man on the shoulder. The man watched as the two gunmen fell back, behind the fire team and continued to fire into the horde. A moment later his eyebrows reached for the sky as he realized how apt the term 'Fire team' actually was.
The flames reached out over thirty feet, roasting almost a dozen of the closest vamps with a sudden and reckless ease that startled the watcher. For the first time it looked that he might fail in this attempt. That irritated him, he didn't like failing. And failing twice in a row was inexcusable.
<Finally.> The man allowed himself to smile, his own 'fire team' was moving into position. In a moment he'd see how the boy dealt with a completely new level of threat.
Xander watched as the flames began dusting the vampires who had come too close in their assault. <A wall of flame defense. Niceness.>
What remained of his night vision after the repeated muzzle flashes from his Glocks had been totally destroyed when the flame throwers opened up, but Xander figured that for a necessary evil and tried to shrug it off. He could only catch glimpses through the sweeping flames of the activity beyond, but what he did see didn't look good.
"Cease Fire!"
The crew barely glanced at him when he yelled the order, and those that did looked as though they wanted to turn the flame units on him. It wasn't until Gunn repeated his order that the flame units slowly started to die down. Somehow, through the latent images of fire still flickering on the back of his retina's Xander managed to piece together what was happening. His eyes widened as the pieces snapped into place and he realized how close death really was.
"Take cover!"
Satisfaction permeated the man's soul as he watched the vampiric fire team move into position, their automatic weapons locking onto the target rich field in front of them. He had been ecstatic to find a half dozen of the younger vamps with enough talent in firearms to make a quarter decent heavy weapons team.
He continued to watch as the flames from the defenders died down and his target suddenly screamed something he couldn't quite hear. He smiled as the defenders attempted to scatter as the assault weapons opened up.
<I do so love watching the tables turn.>
Xander cringed internally as he felt, rather then heard, the whine of bullets cleaving the air around him. The vamps were lousy shots but, at this range and with the firepower they had, it wasn't going to make the slightest difference.
He screamed in frustration as his pistols locked back on empty clips, his last shot's echo lost into the hammering barrage coming from the automatic weapons in front of him. His last shots had caught two of the M-16 toting bastards but now he was bone dry. As far away as they were, as dark as the night was in this part of town, Xander could see the evil glint in the eyes of his enemies as they slowly approached his position, hurling more lethal projectiles at him and his with every step.
He briefly glanced around and was gratified that Gunn and the fire team had taken his advice and dived for cover. It wasn't until his eyes swept back that he caught sight of Jaina, the single remaining member of the fire team nursing a twisted ankle as she tried to limp back into the warehouse. He could hear the screams coming from inside the building as someone tried to come back out to help here.
<For god's sake stay inside! you can't help her if your dead!>
That sole thought burning in his mind he spotted the shift in aim of the enemy fire team. They weren't going for suppression fire now, they were about to fire for effect.
"Take that you pyromaniac bastards!" The vampire was cackling in a decidedly insane manner as he hosed down the door his targets had fled through. He slowly played the M-16 across the doorway, watching the hard wood splinter from the impacts.
"There's still two in the open!"
"Get them!"
"The guy is out of ammo! Get the chick with the toaster first!"
"Got it!" The four remaining gunmen re-aimed their weapons and opened fire.
Some things Xander honestly didn't understand about himself, and his reaction to crisis was one of them. As a child he had always been the guy who got picked on when the bullies were on a rampage, though he never quite pieced together why. For some reason something inside him always took over, a snide crack here, a bad joke there. Somehow Xander Harris always managed to attract the attentions of the worst of the worst.
It was always his instincts that got him in trouble it seemed. Left to himself Xander figured he had a very healthy sense of self preservation, he certainly wasn't a warrior born like Steve or Buffy. Unfortunately something in him always seemed to snap when someone else was in trouble. His instincts took over and his instincts were, to his mind at least, quite insane.
As the guns opened up on the defenseless girl Xander stepped into the way, shoving Jaina to her knees as the first of the slugs caught him in the chest.
The vampires wore shocked grins as they watched the man shield their target with his own body. Dozens of bullets impacted across his body as the vampires recognized the target and shifted their aim downwards, enjoying the jerking motions each impact caused to the foolish boy.
"Bloody hell! That damn kid's a total fruitcake!"
The others just nodded, stupid and unbelieving grins plastered across their demonic faces.
The man in black grinned as he watched his target take dozens of rounds to save a girl. <Mission accomplished. Those vamps even remembered not to damage the merchandise. All I have to do now is wait for the cops to arrive, shouldn't take too long, and then a quick trip to the coroner and that brat's head is mine.>
Xander felt the impacts pushing him backwards, lifting him clear of the ground, and sending him back over the kneeling girl behind him. Through the pain he managed to scream one word. "Run!"
Thanking all the gods he'd ever met, when she listened to his advice and ran for the doorway, Xander Harris let the darkness enfold him as he hit the ground.
"Jesus! He's dead!" Gunn was shocked. He wasn't sure if he actually liked the Harris kid but he'd never seen anyone act like that in his life. Gunn managed to pull Jaina in as she reached the door, literally picking her up by her shirt and belt and tossing her into the room as she stumbled by.
"Oh god oh god oh god." Jaina was on the ground, her friends around her, trying to check her for injuries.
"Are you all right?"
She just kept repeating her litany over and over until Gunn finally shook her, "Snap out of it girl! Are you all right?"
She finally stopped and looked blankly at Gunn, "Why'd he do it? For god's sake, why? He could have gotten clear."
Gunn just shook his head, "I don't know, but pull yourself together now. there are still several vamps waiting to make a snack out of us. You got that?"
She nodded dully, still in shock.
"Good."
"Gunn! The vamps are moving in. Looks like their heading for the body!"
Gunn snarled as he turned, "lay down a wall of flames the second they come into range! I ain't letting a bunch of blood drinking son's of bitches get their way. Not here! Not tonight!"
His crew nodded, their faces hardening with resolve. No quarter was the code for the night. No vampire was leaving this battle alive.
The man was still grinning when the flames began licking the area, obscuring both the vamps and his target from sight. <Hell no! Those damn fools may damage the target!>
A moment later the flames died down for a moment and he cursed again. The target had vanished.
//Xander! Xander! Hold on, I'm coming for you!//
The ground was hard and surprisingly cold when Xander managed to haul himself back from the darkness. His eyes burned with an orange glow he couldn't place until he managed to twist his head slightly and saw the flames licking the ground nearby.
<No! Stay there and protect the others! I'm heading for the van.>
Xander painfully pulled himself to his feet, turned and sprinted towards his van.
Xander examined the bullet impacts along the side of the van and cursed. <Steve is gonna be pissed.> The he did a double take and cursed again, <Shit! If any cops see that I'm gonna have a lot of fast talking to do.>
Once inside the black van Xander started ripping the paneling off the interior walls, revealing a small but formidable armory. Ignoring the shooting pains in his chest and stomach he slipped on two shoulder harnesses and strapped on two MP5-K's. Ignoring the vamp-killer supply he grabbed the demon killer clips from the small supply of ammunition he carried he quickly slapped them into his pistols and MP5's. Before turning away he lifted the kevlar ammo pouch from its place and slung it over his shoulder.
Rearmed, Xander slipped out the sliding door and back into the battle.
The man was still searching frantically for the target when the movement of a shadow caught his eye. His eyes widened as he saw the target appear out of the shadows, a machine pistol in each hand, firing fiercely on the vampires trying to approach the bunkered down defenders.
<How did he survive? Surely he's not one of us?>
Even with his vision obscured by the flames erupting from the bunkered down defenders Xander was able to spot the muzzle flashes of the vampires M-16's quite easily. With their attention diverted by the defenders flamethrowers the four armed vampires never saw the shadow that approached their flank.
At twenty feet he leveled the twin machine pistols and started firing short bursts into the unsuspecting vampires.
"Keep firing! They're pushing in!" Gunn was reloading his crossbow as the group of vamps continued to push forward. He fervently wished that Harris had given him more ammo for the Berretta he had been forced to drop earlier. <Crossbows just ain't my style, but who'd have guessed some vamps would come into the 20th century and start packing kevlar?>
The flamethrowers had begun to sputter out as their reserves of napalm ran dry, leaving large areas uncovered as the vampires started to move forward with molotov cocktails and other improvised explosives.
"Gunn! Whitebread's still kicking!"
Gunn looked up from his crossbow and saw Xander's face and hands followed quickly by the flowing black coat come out of the darkness. He watched as the boy's arms came up and Gunn's eye's widened as he realized that Xander had rearmed somewhere along the road.
The brief muzzle flashes from Harris' guns burnt into his eyes as he watched the kid attack the vampires, dusting the first two before they even had a clue he was there. The last two M-16 toting vamps had time to swivel their aim even as Xander shifted his own. Gunn watched as both sides opened fire on each other, the first shots plucking at Xander's coat as he strode forward into the mix.
Xander felt the first shots yank at the loose parts of his coat as he continued to fire on the vampires. <Damn I hope they don't aim for the head.>
He winced as one of the 5.56 rounds caught him in the shoulder, sending a shooting pain through his right arm and throwing his aim off for a moment. gritting his teeth Xander shifted aim again and put a three round burst into the head of the offending vampire.
Xander smiled as the slide on the last vampire's M-16 locked back, his smile rapidly become a deaths head grin as he deliberately stalked closer to the terrified demon. A blur in the corner of his eye shifted his attention momentarily as a vamp charged him, Xander shifted one MP5 off his main target and dusted his attacker without blinking.
Kal gulped as he watched as the kid blew away one of his brethren without blinking. The hot metal of the M-16 in his hands wasn't feeling terribly useful at the moment but Kal hefted it by the barrel, ignoring the searing burns as the hot metal cooked the skin on his hands. <I ain't gonna be taken down by some brat with an fucking gun complex!>
Gunn watched the confrontation as the vampire changed his grip on the empty rifle and held it up like a baseball bat. Gunn watched as Xander calmly dusted a vamp trying to charge, then shifted his aim back to the first. <Just dust the bloodsucker!>
Xander glanced around him and realized that the remaining vampires had scattered, running off for easier prey. He looked back at the sole attacker over the metal sights of his MP5-K's and his smile widens as he nonchalantly drops the guns, letting them hang from their straps. A moment later his sword is in his hands as he continues to advance on the vamp.
"Who are you?" Kal was nervous, he hadn't expected any trouble, but this kid was scary.
"The name's Xander, but I don't think you'll have much cause to use it fang boy."
Kal tightened his grip on the rifle and lunged forward, swinging the M16 like a bat at the kid's head. Xander just ducked, letting the rifle pass a quarter inch above his scull before he came up with a punch to the vamps jaw. Kal was rocked back by the force of the punch, he rarely been hit that hard even by another vampire.
"What the hell are you!" Kal managed to growl out as he back away.
Xander grinned at him, "Is this where I'm supposed to say 'Your worst nightmare' or some other piece of cheesy trash? Sorry pal, I save the good material for the heavy hitters."
Kal snarled and took another swing, missing by a mile as his target danced back. "Heavy hitters? I'm a vampire you little pest, I am the heavy hitters!"
Xander smirked, and shook his head, "Oh please. You, my living impaired friend, barely qualify as a warm up. Hell man, I was firing silver bullets into Throlog last July. I drink sodas and shoot the shit with tougher AND meaner bastards then you."
Kal shuddered, he'd heard about the fiasco at the forum over the summer but never thought he'd ever be facing someone who was present. Tensing he shifted his grip on the rifle and threw it at the boy, bolting as the kid ducked.
"Oh no you don't!" Xander easily avoided the thrown rifle and charged the escaping vampire before he could get four steps. Catching the vampire in the lower abdomen with his sword Xander bent down and used his full strength to lift the vamps feet clear of the ground. Charging, Xander slammed the vampire into the wall of the warehouse and drove the titanium blade deep into the solid wall.
Xander stepped back and let go of the pommel, leaving the vampire pinned to the wall almost three feet off the ground. As the demon shrieked in pain Xander pulled out a wickedly curved wooden dagger and laid it gently across the demons throat.
"You know why it hurts so much?" Xander asked calmly, "The blade has been blessed three times. Two different Gods even. Tell me what I want to know and I'll dust you quick."
The vampire cursed and tried to grab him with its free arms, only to feel the blade slice another quarter inch higher into his stomach before he collapsed back against the wall, screaming.
Xander made a low clucking sound, "Not smart. Your own body weight is pulling you down boyo, move and the blade just cuts you up faster. Its gonna hit your heart... eventually. Just tell me where your nest is and I'll finish it quick."
Kal manages to swallow his pain for a moment, "Promise you wont kill me and I'll tell you what you want to know."
Xander considers for a moment before turning back, "Fair enough. Where's the nest?"
Kal is silent for a moment, then finally responds. "48th and 12th. Basement of an old warehouse."
"How many vamps?"
Kal is silent for another long moment, his teeth gritting against the pain of the triple blessed weapon in his guts. Finally he spoke again, "A dozen left. No more."
Xander nods, then yanks the blade out of the wall and the vampires gut. Kal falls to the ground and doubles over. Xander turns as he hears Gunn come up behind him.
"Aint you gonna dust him?"
Xander doesn't look back at the crawling vampire, "I told him I wouldn't kill him if he told me where to find the nest."
Gunn looks at him in disbelief, "You can't let him go!"
Xander pulled a Glock from his shoulder holster and tossed it to Gunn as he walked back to the door.
"I never said I'd let him go." Xander says to the shocked gang as he walks past them into the building, not flinching when the shot rang out. "I just said that *I* wouldn't kill him"
Gunn tossed the pistol back to Xander as he walked back through the door, "Thanks."
Xander just nodded, snapping the weapon back into it's holster, as he turned to Jaina, who was still on the floor. "You ok?"
She nods as she looks at him in shock, "You... you... how?"
"Yeah Harris, why ain't you dead?" Gunn is standing behind him with a determined look on his face.
Xander shrugged and painfully slipped his long coat off his shoulders, "The coat is bulletproof... well, as close as you can get nowadays anyway. My boss had it made for some of his very... *old* friends. They didn't have much use for it though, decided it was too heavy I guess. They don't worry much about bullets anyway. The material is based on a mundane version of our battle armor."
Gunn's eyes narrowed, "Mundane?"
Xander backpedaled, thinking quickly, "Sorry, I meant that our armor is tricked out with a lot of extras not included in the coat."
Gunn looked at the coat with interest, "What can it stop?"
Xander grinned, "At the very least it can handle 5.56 NATO rounds with full metal jackets, in theory it can handle a .50 caliber sniper round. Of course the impact itself would probably liquify my internal organs... So in practice I'd say a 7.62 round would be the limit. As long as it isn't armor piercing." Then Xander winced, "but it hurts like hell. The battle armor is a firm plate that spreads out the impact, this thing just stops the bullet from tearing a hole in you. I think I have a few bruised ribs."
"Why didn't you just wear the armor then?"
Xander turned to the voice, seeing that Pablo had entered the conversation. "Full plate armor is a little conspicuous, this was made for blending in as well as concealing weapons."
Xander looks around at the group, "So, who's up for a little nest clearing?"
A short while later Xander, Gunn, and the crew were loading into Xander's van in preparation for the assault on the vampire nest.
"Ok, these vamps probably won't be armored. From what I heard they were told to pack the vests for this mission only, this means we can go in with wooden bullets. Even so, we'll have to pack the silver tips just in case."
Gunn nodded, relieved, "Good. We're bringing along a half dozen flame units as well."
Xander grinned, "Of course. Those things are pretty useful."
"Holy hell! you've got an armory back here!" Pablo was looking at the exposed panels in shock.
Xander shrugged as he closed them up, "Not really. just a few party favors in case I run into trouble."
Gunn and crew looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Xander oddly, "You guys are crazy."
With that final word on matters the gang slammed the doors shut and Xander chuckled to himself as he slid behind the wheel and pulled the van out of the old lot and heading for the next target.
//Didn't take them long to peg you did it?//
<Oh shut up Patches.>
Parked in a quiet section of town Xander examine the activity around the target warehouse through his pocket monocular scope.
"Lying bastard."
Gunn looked over at him from the passenger seat, "What are you talking about?"
Xander passed the scope over to Gunn, "I've counted at least eighteen of the bastards so far. That prick said there wouldn't be more the a dozen, and we haven't even been able to check out the basement yet."
Xander could hear murmuring from the back of the van.
"No problem."
"We can handle it."
"Bloodsuckers gonna die man."
"What are we waiting for, lets get going!"
Xander shook his head and thumbed the electronic lock on the door. The sound of all the vans locks engaging startled his passengers. Xander turned his head and looked as his angry 'team'.
"I don't think so. Listen up and listen good, this is not a game of cowboys and Indians. You got that? We sit tight and continue surveillance until backup arrives."
"Backup? what backup?"
Xander grinned and pulled out his digital cell phone and dialed Kelly's number from memory.
Kelly grabbed his cell on the third ring. "Talk to me."
"Kelly, Xander. I need some backup to raid a nest, the Zombies available?"
Kelly looked around Buster's bar and grill, all of the team was nearby and still sober. "Yeah no problem. What's the sitch?"
"Looks like at least a couple dozen vamps maybe more. I'm calling HQ for a blueprint of the warehouse at 48th and 12th. Don't forget your Ginsu's."
Kelly grinned into the phone, "Not likely friend. Not likely at all."
The connection when dead and Kelly called the Zombies close. "Xander and Gunn's crew located a nest down in the warehouse district. He's calling in for back up, you guy's up for it?"
The Zombies smiled and nodded, their beers instantly forgotten.
Steve St Wolf was comfortably watching holiday movies with Buffy when the phone started ringing. Cursing mildly he extricated himself from Buffy's warm embrace and grabbed the phone.
"St. Wolf."
"Steve, this is Xander. I've got some problems here in L.A. and need you to find the blue prints of a warehouse for me."
Steve shook his head clear and went into the computer room, punching up the information for the warehouse Xander asked about. "Ok, got it. I'll send them to the laptop in the Van. What's going on?"
"A nest. At least a couple dozen vamps, I've already called in the Zombies but do you think you can see if Hans is available?"
Steve nodded as he rifled through his book, "No problem. I'll see who else I can get you too. Be damned careful Xander."
"I will," Xander paused, "Look Steve, there is something weird going on here. Someone is convincing the vamps to pack kevlar vests. Even the silver stuff isn't armor piercing Steve, if this is a trend its gonna wreak havoc with our units. We may need to start working on some new party favors."
"Damn. Your kidding me?"
"Sorry man, no joke. One good thing is that the Vamps are resisting it. They don't like packing armor. I heard one say that it itches."
Steve grinned at that, "Well at least some things don't change. Anything else?"
Xander's voice grew quiet, as though he was whispering to avoid being overheard. "I'm not sure but I think the vamps I ran into earlier were hunting me specifically."
"What!" Steve, on the other hand, didn't bother to hide his voice. "Are you sure?"
"Not yet, but I was listening to the vamps before they attacked us and they were definitely after someone other then Gunn's crew." Xander paused, "Although they were pretty happy about having a chance to take down Gunn. Since I'm the only new element here It's an easy line to draw."
"Xander I want you back here." Steve's voice was serious.
"No can do. I'm staying on mission Steve. If I fall back to Sunnydale I don't think we'll be able to find out who's behind this, and that'll mean they'll be free to move the next time I leave the area. I'll be on my guard, and we have friends in L.A. and San Fran."
"Right." Steve wasn't happy, but Xander was right. If someone out there was tracking his people it was important to know who and why.
"Oh and Steve?" Xander paused.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for the coat. It works as advertised." the phone clicked as Xander hung up.
Steve stared at the phone for a long moment, trying to decide if he should curse or laugh. he finally decided on both as he walk back to the living room muttering to himself.
Buffy moves over as he steps back into the living room, "Honey? What's wrong?"
Steve looks at her, "Xander's got himself into a fix," he relates what Xander told him.
Buffy looks concerned, "I hope he'll be ok. Can we do anything?"
Steve shakes his head, "Not really. Its too late to get to L.A. now. We could meet him in San Francisco tomorrow, but he wouldn't thank us for it and it would probably scare off whoever is behind this. Xander knows he's being watched now, that means he's no longer the hunted, now he's the hunter. Besides, he's smart enough to call for backup when he needs it, lets just hope he doesn't get in too deep."
Buffy curled up close to Steve and rested her head against his chest, "He'd better be all right."
Steve just nodded and started dialing.
"Harris, how long do you expect us to wait here?" Gunn was beginning to fidget, and his people were a fair sight worse.
Xander didn't respond for a while, then finally he sighed and spoke. "Patience is a virtue Gunn. Don't be so eager to fight, you'll just get yourself killed or worse."
"Worse?"
"Worse." Xander answered, his voice flat, "You could be turned. Or get your people killed."
Gunn shut up. That was the one thing that would stop him from moving too fast. His crew deserved better, and he knew it. They were his crew because they knew that he understood that fact.
It was fifteen minutes before the SWAT van pulled up and parked just in front of them. Xander and Gunn watched as the Zombies hopped out of the van and walked up to them, Xander opened the door and stepped out to greet them.
"Hey guys, glad you were free for a little moonlighting." Xander grinned as the Zombies team circled around him.
"Yeah right. Like we're getting paid for this crap." Rickman groused with good natured humor.
"Whoever said the good fight paid well?" Xander asked in a comical drawl. "Anyway, Hans should be here soon then we can get this show on the road."
"Not quite, we're also waiting on another friend of ours. She should be along soon as well."
"Alright. Two to go, then we can get down to business." Xander paused, then turned away from the group, "Look guys, I'm going to gear up. Be out in a moment."
The Zombies nod and watch Xander slide open the side door of the van.
"Ok guys, everyone out. I'm going to break out some toys."
Gunn's crew slowly piled out, flinching under the steady stares of the Zombies. Xander caught Gunn as he was slipping out and handed him his coat. "Here Gunn, you'd better take this."
"Don't you need it?" Gunn asked as he reached out to grab the black coat and was surprised to find his arm suddenly traveling toward the ground. "Damn! This thing must weigh thirty pounds!"
Xander didn't bother to look back, "Thirty five. I told you that it was heavy."
With that Xander slid the door shut, leaving Gunn's crew squirming under the serious gaze of the Zombies.
Inside the van Xander started tearing the paneling off the walls of the Van, exposing the weapons and gear Steve had managed to stash in the van. Next he pulled up a hatch in the floor and pulled his Grail Knight armor from the recessed area underneath.
<Thank god for boy scouts.> Xander thought as he strapped the armor on, <I can't believe that I was trying to convince Steve to let me toss a couple saddlebags on the bike and motor up here that way.>
A few minutes later Xander stepped back out of the van in full battle armor, his sword clearly visible on his back. Wooden daggers and ammo clips were tucked across the armor in easily accessible positions.
Xander glanced over at the assembled Zombies in their urban combat gear and nodded a second greeting. Looking over the group for a moment he realized that the group had grown while he was suiting up. A quick glance at the first of the newcomers brought a grin to his face.
"Hans, Good to see you. You brought your friends I see?"
The Immortal grinned in return, "I've been trying to ditch them for months but they insist on hanging around for hunts."
Hanson and Argus mock scowled at their friend but refrained from any comments.
Xander turned to the other two newcomers, "JD, Good to see you again. Heya Steve, glad you could make it man."
JD nodded in greeting, while Steve grinned and took a step forward, "Good to see you again Xander."
"You too man, things going good?" Xander grinned when Steve nodded and, turning back to the van, pulled his laptop out. "Lets get down to business shall we?"
Kelly led his team around the back of the warehouse, watching Ricker and Koffman's back as they swept the area carefully with their night vision scopes. Ricker paused for a second and fired two shots from the silenced rifle, the nearly silent 'chuffs' fading quickly into the night.
"Ricker here. One out, one down."
Xander's voice came back over the radio, a quiet whisper, "Roger, one out one down. Good job. Proceed on mission."
Kelly nodded, mostly to himself, and moved on to the teams target, a rear door that they needed to cover to prevent escapes.
"Ricker here. One out, one down."
Xander smiled slightly, accepting the status report, the whispered into his mic, "Roger, one out one down. Good job. Proceed on mission."
"Ok guys lets move in and secure the door."
Behind him Hans, Steve, and JD nodded and followed him to the big double doors, sticking close to the walls and hiding in the available shadows. Once at the door they paused and carefully examined the area.
"Kelly here. In position, awaiting go."
Xander nodded to the others, who looked at him and nodded back. "Xander here. Both teams are go in ten."
Kelly evenly counted down to zero before giving the order to his men. "Alright. Move out."
Ricker knocked the door in and dropped back out of the way, leaving Kelly and Koffman room to advance through the doorway with their weapons sweeping the warehouse. Across the way they could see Hans, Steve, and JD doing the same with Xander moving in quickly behind them.
The interior of the warehouse erupted in gunfire as both teams opened up with short, controlled bursts.
Jason Bier heard the doors to his warehouse smash open and looked up from his meal, a young woman one of his children brought after the nights hunt. Her delectable taste was quickly forgotten as he saw the mortals enter like police would. Jason smiled, it wasn't often that the buffet served itself.
"Get them!"
The vampires reacted quickly, charging the two teams as they entered the building. Xander watched as his group opened up with wooden bullets, nervously watching for the results. He hoped they worked since his supply of silver tips was far from infinite. He breathed a sigh of relief as the vamps began disintegrating with each shot. Leveling his own weapon he took up a covering position and added his own variety of chaos to the mix.
In three hundred years Bier had never run into the like of what he now saw. Two teams of mortals were decimating his children, each shot from their firearms was the death knoll of another vampire. <They are cutting through my children as if... as if my vampires were... Mortals!> he thrust that thought away in disgust.
"Kill them all! Kill them!"
"Kill them all! Kill them!"
Xander listened as the vampire screamed in rage, <This is our one main advantage over the blood suckers. Their brand of immortality breeds stupidity.>
"They never learn." JD sounded amused by the vampire's raging.
Xander opened fire over her head, "Let's hope that they never do."
The two teams acting as pincers closed in on the vampires, forcing them to group closer and closer together. Those that didn't permit themselves to be herded were soon dusted by combined fire from Kelly and Xander's teams.
When he saw the victims the vampires were using as food Xander almost had to change the plan on the fly but something held him back for a moment. Xander breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the Vampires abandon their food and move back towards the big garage door behind them. <Their victims must be too weak to move, and they don't want to carry them>
As the vampires reached a certain point Xander spoke into his radio, "Targets in position, Fire Team you are go."
"You heard the man, blow the door!" Gunn took up his position as Hanson thumbed the detonator he was carrying.
The explosion splintered the big garage door, sending shards flying directly into the grouped vampires. Seconds later Gunn led his Fire Team through the smoking breech into the warehouse, their flamethrowers showering the surviving vampires with liquid fire as the team's two immortal guardians rained wooden bullets on any stragglers.
Kelly watched the door fracture and splinter into the crowd of vamps and couldn't hold back a grin as he watched Gunn stride through the smoking ruins in the flowing black coat. <Right out of an action flick>
He and his team kept up their fire as the Flame units spread destruction among the surviving blood suckers. Across the way he could hear the gunfire as Xander's team did the same, keeping the demonic creatures penned in between a hail of gunfire and the flames of hell.
<Hell of a plan. Kid learns well from his teachers.>
Xander grinned as the last of the vampires literally went up in smoke, "As a friend of mine likes to say... I love it when a plan comes together." Xander briefly wished that he had a cigar to chomp down on, but shrugged the feeling off. <Can't have everything.>
JD glared at Xander as if he were insane, "I swear to the gods and goddess above and below that if you start acting like your on the 'Jazz' I'll kick your ass up and down both sides of this warehouse and *then* I'll go find Hanibal Smith and kick HIS ass for fucking with my day."
Xander stared at her, stricken silent for a long moment before an involuntary laugh escaped his throat. Steve gave him a sympathetic grin while Hans just grinned at the kid and went back to covering his portion of the warehouse.
"Alright everyone move in! Gunn, take two of your boys and secure the victims. Kelly, secure the access to the basement. Everyone else take up positions in case some stragglers come in from the cold."
Quickly the hunters took their positions, guarding the area against further intrusions. Xander stepped over to the four victims, three of whom were unconscious. He checked them out quickly, but he didn't really have to to know what they needed.
"Kelly, get on the horn and get a couple ambulances down here! These people are going to need medical attention and most likely transfusions."
Kelly nodded, "They are already standing by, Xander, I called Captain Randall earlier."
Xander nodded and turned back to the fourth victim while Kelly called in the medics, "Are you all right Miss?"
The woman was white, only the red of her lips and the stain of blood along her throat giving her any indication of color. Her eyes were still clear though, and they searched Xander's face in fear, clearly looking for a demonic brow, razor sharp fangs, and yellow eyes.
"It's all right ma'am. Your going to be ok, we're with the LAPD. You've been rescued."
The woman stared at him for a moment, her eyes locking with his, before she started to sob. Her arms reached out and she pulled herself against Xander's armor plated chest holding him tightly. "V... vampires... they were..."
"Shh... shhhhh..." Xander cut her off, "I know. I know. Your going to be ok."
Xander looked around desperately but didn't see any help coming from the others. Finally he submitted to the inevitable and just held on for a few more seconds until the sirens could be heard in the distance. Xander then pushed her away until he could see her face again.
"I have to go now, but the paramedics will be here in a minute. We need to check the lower levels, so I have to ask, do you know what's down there?"
The girl shook her head but said, "They took two others down there after I was taken. It's been hours now. I haven't seen anyone but the... the va... vampires come back up."
Xander nodded, "Thank you. You've been a great help, so just sit tight until the ambulance arrives and you'll be on your way to the hospital. ok?"
The woman nodded and Xander stood up and waved JD over, "JD I want you to stay with them while we clear the basement."
"What!?" JD's eyes flashed, "Why the hell should I stay behind?"
"You're a girl." Xander's eyes suddenly went round as he realized that his statement didn't come out the way he intended. "uh... I mean.."
JD was instantly in his face, "You have a problem with women fighting?"
Xander, trying to shift his mind back into gear, suddenly managed to collect himself. "Hey! I fight with Amazons, the Slayer, and anyone else capable-"
"Oh so I'm not capable now?"
<Lord some day's it doesn't pay to get out of bed.> Xander grimaced as he was cut off, "Thats not what I said, but the last time I checked you're the only woman in the group."
JD actually paused for an instant with that, "So what?"
"So do you expect me to leave one of *them*," Xander jerked his thumb in the general direction of the Zombies, "with the victims?"
JD glanced over at the assembled SWAT officers, one of whom was picking his teeth with a stiletto, who looked like they belonged behind bars rather then behind a badge.
Xander had managed to regroup sufficiently to press on, "Or maybe one the gang bangers over there? What do you think, which would you prefer to wake up too after being fed on by vampires?"
JD's eyes narrowed as she managed to bite out, "All right already. You've made you point."
Xander nodded and headed over to Kelly. "The one that's awake is shook up pretty bad man."
Kelly looked at him with sympathy, "Not really surprising. It's a nasty shock just being kidnaped, having a few vamps suck on your throat has got to be one hell of an eye opener."
Xander raised an eyebrow and the Immortals choice of words but didn't say anything for a moment, "Here," He said finally handing Kelly a card from his pocket.
"What's this?" Kelly looked at the card curiously.
"It's the business card for a psychiatrist Section Seven keeps on retainer. Have the victims call the number if they need help."
Kelly pocketed the card, "Good idea that."
Xander shrugged, "Yeah well, if you have to have someone screwing with your skull he may as well know what messed you up in the first place."
Kelly nodded in agreement as Xander started calling in the assault team.
The stairwell down to the basement was a far cry from Xander's idea of a good time. There was little to no light and the stairwell itself was tight and cramped. Kelly had insisted on taking point, an offer that Xander had to concede the value of, and he was moving slowly down the steep stairs with the rest of the Zombies and Xander following close behind.
The stairs ended at a solid door, stopping Kelly for a moment while he delicately checked the knob.
"Its locked." Kelly looked the door over carefully, "Too solid to kick down. We'll have to fall back and get the ram bar."
Xander stopped the men with a hand on Kelly's shoulder, "I'll handle the door. Everyone get ready."
Xander looked the door over carefully, checking for where the locking mechanism would be, before taking a deep breath. Focusing on the target he remembered the techniques Steve had taught him and let his foot explode into the door. The heavy oak shattered with the force of the kick, flinging the door open wide.
Xander stepped back, allowing Kelly and Ricker to go through the door in tandem. The two Zombies swept the dank room with their weapons, looking for targets.
Xander came in behind them, followed by the rest of the SWAT team.
The room was setup like some psychotics concept of a medieval torture chamber. A gallows had been erected in one corner of the room, a corpse still strung up and twisting slowly in the dank air. Xander moved silently through the room, feeling like a ghost amidst the macabre setting, until he reached what he thought was a chair.
A young woman had been tied solidly to the oaken seat, hear head firmly strapped to a brace inset in the back of the chair. A metal screw had been tightened to the back of the woman's neck. From the angle Xander could easily see that it had broken her neck. A garrote.
"Shit."
Kelly nodded dumbly, looking over the carnage. "Christ. They haven't even been fed on."
Xander didn't respond right away, he was forcing down a sudden urge to wretch. Finally he spoke again, "You lose a lot of qualities when your soul goes bye bye. Looks like you gain a few to replace them. Senseless fucking creatures."
"Anyone see any way out of here other then the door we came through?"
It was several minutes before they were able to answer that with any certainty, but it appeared that the room was a dead end. In far too many ways.
Xander was leaning heavily against the grill of his van, watching the paramedics do their jobs from a safe distance. He had gotten his coat back from Gunn to cover his armor before the paramedics got a glimpse of it.
<I could get to hate raiding nests. At least patrols usually means you get the vamps before they get someone else. Or, at worst, you only have to deal with a corpse. I don't know if I can handle seeing that kind of crap on a regular basis.>
//You did the best anyone could Xander.//
Xander didn't respond, his mind barely acknowledging the cat's words.
"You ok kid?" Captain Randall approached the van slowly, a look of concern on his face.
Xander grimaced, "I'll get over it. I just prefer to nail the vamps on the streets. Seeing the results of a vampires extra curricular activities is actually worse then seeing their sloppy table manners."
Randall sighed, "Can't blame you for that Kid."
Xander grimaced as the conversation returned the images he had just witnessed to the forefront of his mind. The entire experience had left an actual physically bad taste in his mouth. Outwardly he forced his face to show a calm facade and straightened away from the van as he tried to project a strong face.
Randall watched as the boy composed himself, <Good kid. Hope he can deal with this crap and doesn't bury it too deep though.>
Xander watched as the Zombies and their friend JD finally separated themselves from the group of officers who had arrived on the scene and headed over to him.
"How are the victims?" Xander's voice was low.
Kelly grimaced, "Pretty bad. the first three are touch and go right now. The fourth looks like she'll pull through."
Xander nodded, it was pretty much as he'd expected. He sighed, "I'm going to have to pull out pretty soon if I want to make San Fran by dawn. Can you guys make sure Gunn and his crew get back?"
"Yeah, that's not a problem." Kelly paused, "Xander?"
Xander looked up at him curiously, "Yeah?"
"You did a good job tonight. You can't save them all, but you definitely saved more then you lost tonight kid."
Xander nodded as he got into the Van and started the engine, "Yeah. I know, but it don't make it any easier." He whispered as he shifted the van into gear and headed for the freeway.
Rest Stop, Just west of San Francisco
27 December, 1998 - 02:30 PST
L.A. was far behind him before Xander pulled the van into a rest stop and shucked his armor and weapons, putting them back into the compartments and sealing them up. He should have done it before leaving but found himself unable to stop until L.A. was gone.
Hopping out of the van he headed toward the 24 hour mini-mall. <You want a snack?>
//Yeah!// Patches spoke up, lifting from the oppressive silence that had consumed the drive time from L.A., as a Guardian Spirit he found himself attuned somewhat closely to Xander's mood.
<All right kitty cat. Name it.>
Xander was surprised when Patches actually pretended to consider his answer for a long moment. <Chocolate and some cheese!>
Xander shuddered as he entered the store trying to bury the image of the cats choice in tasty combos. He wandered through the market, slowly grabbing things off the shelves, not really paying much attention to his surroundings.
//Uh... Xander?//
Xander didn't notice the cats voice in his head, his mind trailing over the events of the evening. The evening had been spent profitably but Xander couldn't pass over the images now burned into his minds eye. In L.A. last July Steve had sheltered most of the team from the worst of it, and in Sunnydale they had only rarely raided nests since they normally preferred to eliminate the vamps before they settled in.
//Xander...//
Again Xander didn't hear the cat's mental voice, his mind running over the past few years now instead of merely the nights activities. He had seen horrors during his brief career as a... a what? <What am I? Damnitall. Why am I worried about this now?> Xander shook his head in disgust, and whispered to himself "Lousy day. What else can happen to screw with me tonight?"
//Xander!//
<What!?> Xander finally jerked out of his reverie, and mentally snapping at the spirit.
"Freeze mother fuckers! Next person who moves I blow their fucking brains out!"
<Never mind.> Xander sank against the aisle, looking back over the chips at the cashier. A young tough was holding a shotgun at the female clerks head. Xander pause for a moment before looking skyward and muttering under his breath. "When I find out which one of you is floating around and waiting for me to open my big mouth so you can can open the gate to the lions den, I swear we are going to have a serious talk."
As he moved closer to the end of the aisle Xander could have sworn he heard someone laughing. <I've been hanging around Steve way too much. I never know when I'm imagining things anymore.>
He briefly considered drawing the Glocks he was packing but that would entail answering a lot of troublesome question later. Taking a deep breath he stepped out of the aisle, directly behind the gunman.
"Excuse me..." Xander let his voice take on an almost whimsical tone.
"Excuse me..."
Jamus turned, startled by the sound of someone behind him. <Someone snuck up on me? How the hell?>
As his shotgun arced around to cover a new target, the young Gangrel only saw a blur of motion and felt an impact that sent his shot gun wide. His finger involuntarily tightened on the trigger, sending a plume of flame and phosphorous into the chip rack. In the next moment he felt the weapon knocked upwards, flipping over his shoulder, as his assailant neatly disarmed him.
A sickening crack and a sudden rush of darkness interrupted any thought of retaliation or defense.
Xander held back a grin as the he saw the shotgun spin around predictably. As the gun started to come level with him he reached out an slapped it back, sending the muzzle wide as the punk's finger tightened on the trigger. As the weapon fired Xander closed on the punk, grabbing the shotgun just ahead of the trigger guard and forced it up and over the would be robber's shoulder.
A quick twist and the weapon came free of the punk's hands, leaving Xander in the perfect position to complete his move. Suddenly reversing his momentum, Xander slammed the butt of the weapon into the punk's head.
A clinical portion of his mind analyzed the sound as the young criminal dropped to the floor. <Solid hit, carotid vein twisted, instant knock out.>
June Frier figured herself a goner the second the Gangrel stepped through the doors. She'd been warned about this one, an insane rogue that the entire clans were hunting as a danger to the masquerade. The young Toreador chalked it up to fate when the rogue Gangrel shoved the shotgun in her face and screamed something about a holdup.
It was all an act of course, just something so the police would write it off as a robbery gone bad. <Stupid expression that. Whoever heard of a robbery gone good?>
She knew her face must have betrayed her shock when a young man stepped from behind the chips and spoke with a hint of humor in his voice.
"Excuse me..."
What happened next was shocking. She couldn't piece the events together into any kind of coherent whole. The smell of the dragon's breath round frying the bags of chips, the blur of motion as the man disarmed the Gangrel without effort and turned the insane vampire's own weapon against him.
When it was over the man turned to look at the burning chip rack, staring at it for a long moment before turning back. June was trying to work up the courage to thank her rescuer when the look on his face shut her up. He slowly pumped the slide on the shotgun, catching the ejected round in his bare hand. June winced, a dragons breath round would be incredibly hot after so little time but the man didn't even flinch, he just lifted the shell to his nose and sniffed at it carefully.
His curiosity satisfied he started to examine the store carefully, slowly leaning over the counter, searching every small corner for something. During the entire time June nervously watched the young man and the shotgun. She saw that the weapon was never pointed directly at her, but never very far away either.
Finally he stepped close to her, leaning in silently, looking directly into her eyes before he seemed satisfied. She breathed a sigh of relief when he calmly ejected the shells from the shotgun, catching each one and depositing them carefully in his pockets, He tossed the empty shotgun onto the unconscious Gangrel and vanished back into the aisle.
She sucked in another breath when he reappeared with a load of junk food in his hands and asked to be wrung through.
<Dragon's breath shells.> Xander was confused. He could smell the phosphorus on the shell he held between his fingers, could feel the heat trying to burn his hands, he knew what he was holding but it didn't make sense. Dropping the simmering shell he breathed a quick word of thanks to Shaw for the heat resistance spell she had laid on the sword currently strapped to his back.
<If he had a vamp killer, maybe he's a hunter.> Xander turned to the cashier slowly, not quite aiming at her but not aiming away either. Very slowly and deliberately he leaned far over the counter, checking for a corpse that would likely be there if the cashier was a vampire.
<Nothing.> Xander moved back and started to check the rest of the place. The washrooms, a storage closet, even the walk in cooler for the beer, soda, and other perishables. His quick search of the place had revealed no bodies, and he was pretty sure that no self respecting vampire would actually work a job like this.
<And then there's her eyes.> Xander was certain that there was no way a vampire would have been that terrified of the situation. The demons felt fear certainly, but they didn't show the same way humans did. <and that young lady is most definitely terrified.>
Finally he shrugged it off, <The punk must have gotten a hold of some pyro-shells from somewhere and thought they looked cool. Sick bastard.> Xander shuddered at the thought of what one of these would do to a normal human.
He started to relax, and felt his customary grin spread across his face as he dropped off his selection on the counter. "Could you ring me through please?"
He watched, amused, as the young woman nodded and fumbled her way through the process of ringing up his purchase. While she was working on that he knelt down and quickly taped the punk's hands and feet with a roll of duct tape he had grabbed while retrieving his snacks.
Xander straightened up and took the plastic bag from the cashier with a grin.
"Thanks, look I have an important meeting in town and I can't hang around. Tell the cops that I'll be meeting with Inspector Bridges of the SIU later and will answer any questions then, ok?"
The young woman nodded dumbly, making Xander wonder if she had really heard him. Frowning he decided to make sure, "Could you repeat what I just said?"
"um... Insp... Inspector Bridges. SIU. Ask questions then."
Xander grinned, "Close enough. I've got to go now, call the cops, but don't forget what I said."
With that Xander spun about and strode through the automatic doors.
June watched the black van pull out of the lot and back onto the freeway before she grabbed the phone and dialed a number from memory.
Julian Luna grabbed the phone on the first ring. Only a half dozen people in existence had the number to this private line and they didn't use it lightly.
"Hello?"
"Julian, it's Lilly. I have a situation. One of my people was working her 'night job' at a rest stop off the interstate when that rogue Gangrel that Cash is so annoyed with came after her."
Julian winced, that bastard Jamus should never have been Embraced. One look at the kids police record and psych profile from his juvenile file was enough to tell him that. "How badly is she hurt?"
The answer surprised him. "She's fine. A mortal bystander took down the Gangrel and left him trussed for the police."
Julian was silent for a long moment. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. She hasn't called the police yet, she wanted instructions."
Julian let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. "Tell her to sit tight. I'll have it handled."
"Thank you Julian."
Hanging up the phone Luna thought for a moment before picking it up again and dialing. "Detective Kohanek's desk please."
Xander didn't look back as he pulled out of the lot, the rest stop rapidly dwindling in the background.
//Xander? You ok?//
"Yeah, I'm fine kitty cat. Just got a quick reminder that demons ain't the only evil around. Looks like someone is telling me to grow up a bit."
Patches was silent as he slowly picked at his snacks. His charge had some very profound moods, and the young spirit had little idea on how he could help.
//Xander? Shouldn't you call Steve?//
Xander cursed and reached down and dialed Steve's number on the hands free cell phone.
"St. Wolf residence."
"Hey Buff. Its me."
"Xander?" Buffy's voice was anxious, "Are you ok?"
"Yeah I'm cool. I'm heading into San Fran now, sorry I didn't call earlier. I just need some time to think."
Buffy's tone was subdued when she replied, "Yeah I heard. Hans called Steve earlier. Was it bad?"
"Not as bad as what you guy's saw back in July. But yeah, it was bad."
"I'm sorry Xander."
Xander smiled, forcing some humor into his voice, "Not your fault Buff. My choice, my problem. Don't worry about it, I can deal."
"I know but..." She slowly trailed off.
Xander smiled again, "I'll be fine Buff. Is Steve there?"
"Sure, one sec."
Xander waited patiently for a couple moments before Steve came on the lines.
"Xander?"
"Yeah its me. Sorry I didn't call you sooner."
Steve nodded into the phone, "Hans told me. You going to be good?"
Steve could hear the grin return to Xander's voice, "When am I ever good?"
"Yeah," Steve grinned into the phone, "your going to be fine."
"Bet on it. Look I'm pulling up to the SIU headquarters now. I'm gonna catch a quick nap and meet up with Nash when he shows up for work."
"K. Good luck and take care."
"Will do Steve. You guys stop waiting up for bad news about me you hear? Get some sleep... or at least some sack time." Xander finished of with a grin as he pulled into a parking space.
"Smartass."
"Always." Xander said as he closed the connection and shifted into park and shut the van down. Sighing he said goodnight to Patches and leaned the drivers seat back, closed his eyes and dropped off seconds later.
Patches stared at him for a long second before shaking his head from side to side in disgust. <Even I can't fall asleep that fast, and I'm a cat.>
SIU Headquarters, San Francisco
27 December, 1998 - 09:00 PST
When Nash Bridges drove into his parking space for work that morning he was somewhat confused to find a group of officers standing a respectful distance from a black van he didn't recognize.
When he spotted Joe he called out, "Hey Bubba, what's going on here?"
"Nash man, check out that van. Tell me what those dents look like to you."
Nash looked at the van curiously before it hit him. "Shit. Are those bullet holes?"
Another officer came up beside him, "Nope. Those are bullet impacts on an armored surface. When I was in the army I saw that same pattern after a nut-job with an AK hosed down my HUMVEE."
The group of police officers murmured quietly at that revelation. When the door to the van suddenly opened and a kid wearing a Hawaiian shirt with two Glock pistols in shoulder holsters got out, several of them went for their guns.
"Whoa! Hold on people. Lets not get trigger happy here, k?"
Several members of the group barked out in laughter when they recognized the kid.
"Harris! What the hell are you doing? Trying to get yourself killed?"
Xander ignored Nash for a moment as he slid open the vans side door and pulled out his long black coat and swung the heavy garment over his shoulders.
"Are you telling me that the SIU is staffed with a bunch of trigger happy psychos that shoot first and ask question later?" Xander asked with a grin.
Joe Domingues grinned as he stepped over to greet the kid, looking around he checked the identities of those present before continuing. "Of course it is. Do you think anyone else would volunteer to work for a unit that hunts vampires in its spare time?"
Xander slips his arms into the coat, relaxing as he feels the comforting weight of Deathstalker press against his back. "I suppose it wouldn't be the only group of that type."
Nash just nodded, shaking his head at the sudden change one piece of clothing made to the boy. In a few seconds he went from a high school geek to a hit man straight out of the movies. Finally Nash spoke, "What brings you to my town, Bubba?"
Xander smiled, <As far as nicknames go that one's new to me.> "Just running some Christmas deliveries to the friends and neighbors of Section Seven, Nash man."
With that Xander reached back into the van and pulled out a small case, tucking it under his arms he looked back into the van and spoke, "You coming kitty cat?"
Patches rose and stretched himself slowly and deliberately before answering, //No, but I will take a look around. Stretch my legs... and uh... well, look for some sand....//
Xander chuckled as the cat hopped out of the van, slamming the sliding door he turned back to Nash. "Let's head up to your desk, Inspector, have I got something to show you."
Nash, staring after the departing cat, finally looked back. "Huh? Oh. yeah, fine... Let's go then, Bubba."
Xander leaned back after finishing his 'responsibility spiel' and looked at Nash and Joe's faces. It didn't take him long to realize that they still hadn't quite got it. Xander sighed, "Look guys, I'm serious here. This stuff is last resort, hail Mary, prayer in the wind stuff. Don't waste it. Healing droughts are tough to brew and people who can do it are almost always already on the front lines in our war. If they're not then some front line group already has them under contract. I've got three here for you guys and another three for Tommy and the Shadowclan, but that's all. And I can't guarantee that any more will be available any time soon."
Nash looked at Joe before turning back to Xander and asking carefully, "What can this stuff do exactly?"
"It's pretty potent. Administered in time it can, at the very least, stave off death until you can get the victim to the hospital. Basically it can cure anything short of a severed head, or if not cure then stabilize them long enough for treatment. As long as they're breathing, this stuff can keep them that way."
Joe and Nash looked at each other, comprehension dawning on their faces.
"Jeeez." Joe's response was succinct.
Nash was silent a bit longer before he spoke, "We really appreciate this Bubba, I hope we never need it though."
Xander grinned, "Amen. but its better to have it then to need it."
The three people nodded in agreement at the sentiment as another man approached the desk.
"Inspector Bridges?"
Nash looked up, "Frank! How's it going?"
Detective Kohanek nodded in greeting to Nash and pulled a chair over, "I was called in on a robbery case this morning, would be robber got himself knocked cold by a bystander. The guy told the clerk that he was meeting you today."
Nash and Joe slowly turned to look at Xander, their faces a mix between astonishment and resigned disgust.
Xander looked at them and rolled his eyes to the ceiling "Oh right, blame the helpless teenager."
Nash snorted, "Helpless is one word I wouldn't ever use the same sentence with your name, Bubba."
Frank Kohanek looked at the young man curiously, "Was it you, kid?"
Xander looked at the group and nodded, "Yeah, I was picking up some snacks when this punk busts into the place screaming about a robbery or something. Guy looked like he was going to shoot the clerk on general principals so I intercepted, disarmed, and disabled him before he could kill someone."
Kohanek was looking at him with an eyebrow quirked, "That it? Why didn't you hang around for the cops?"
"I had a delivery to make here to the SIU."
"What kind of delivery?" Kohanek pressed.
Xander glanced at Nash for a moment, "Uh, I'm not sure-"
Nash cut him off. "It's ok Xander, Frank knows about the local 'nightlife'."
Xander just nodded, "I was dropping off some medical supplies for the night missions here at the SIU."
Frank nods once, dawning comprehension forming on his face. "Ok. I'll handle the report. Do you have any thing else to tell me?"
Xander looks at the group with indecision on his face, "Yes. I think. Look, this punk loaded his shotgun with dragon's breath shells."
The assembled cops looked on in shock as Xander drew a handful of shells from his pocket, "I've never seen this make before, but they are definitely dragon's breath shells."
"So this punk was a hunter?" Nash looked confused.
"No, I don't think so," Xander shook his head, "I checked the place out and didn't find any bodies, so that would mean the vamp would actually have to be working a night job." Xander snorted, "Not likely. No, I don't think the clerk was a vamp."
"You don't think?" Joe was surprised, "How can you be sure?"
"Her eyes." Xander said simply, "I've been dealing with those demonic pieces of crap for close to four years now. I've never seen this... purity... of emotion in the eyes of a vampire, she was terrified. When a vamp gets scared a sizable portion of the emotion gets shunted into anger and hatred, but the clerk... She wasn't angry, she didn't hate me or even the punk with the shotgun. She was just so scared."
Kohanek had an odd expression on his face, "So your certain that it wasn't a vampire?"
Xander nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure. Vamps can look pitiful with the best of them, but pure terror? I've never seen it, and I don't think its possible. She was just going to let that guy shoot her, and when I had the shotgun she was the same. Demons are too angry to allow something like that, they will always try to fight back, I don't think they can help it."
The other nodded silently, accepting the boy's word on the matter. No one noticed the thoughtful look on Kohanek's face as he closed his notebook and stood up.
"Well, thanks for the information. I'll handle the report, good luck kid."
Xander stood up and shook the detectives hand, "Thanks detective, good luck yourself. It's a scary world out there." Xander finished with a grin.
Frank looked somewhat abashed, "tell me about it kid, tell me about it."
Frank hit the auto-dial on his cell phone as soon as he exited the SIU's headquarters.
"Frank?"
"Yeah Julian, its me."
"Was he there?"
"Yeah. I've got some bad news for you."
Julian's voice dropped, "What is it?"
"I'm pretty sure this guy is one of those hunters from Sunnydale."
"What!?" Frank winced as he held the phone away from his ear.
"It gets worse. That punk Gangrel you told me about was packing a dragon's breath shotgun. He recognized it."
Julian's voice was calmer this time, "Yes, I expected that much. Why didn't he investigate harder though?"
Luna's question sounded rhetoric but Frank answered it anyway, "The Toreador clerk you told me about. He said that he didn't see any demonic influences in her eyes. Something about her emotions being different from anything he'd seen in those vamps you call the 'empty ones'."
Julian was silent for along moment, "That is a very... perceptive person."
"Or a very naive one." Frank couldn't resist getting in a jab at Luna.
To his surprise Julian Luna chuckled over the line, "Perhaps your right Detective. Thank you for your help."
"Your welcome Julian. Good bye now."
Frank sighed and snapped his cell phone shut as he unlocked the door to his car and got in.
Across town, Julian Luna stared at the wall for several long moments before reaching for his telephone again.
Back at Nash's desk the conversation had continued.
"Helluva night last night from the sounds of it kid." Joe was grinning.
Xander shrugged, his face becoming a little grimmer. "You don't know the half of it. I was in L.A. last night with a street crew hunting vamps, damn bloodsuckers attacked the gang's warehouse hangout. They were packing Kevlar vests."
Nash and Joe looked at each other a moment before it sank in. "Shit." They both said at the same time.
Xander nodded in agreement, "Exactly. I got really lucky, especially considering they had a rifle team with them."
"Rifle..? Your van." Nash said with understanding.
"Exactly. A half dozen vamps with M16's can really ruin your day."
"Jesus."
"After that we raided the nest. Lets just say I've spent better nights."
The two SIU veterans looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Xander with concerned looks on their faces. They had both seen the inside of a vampire nest, and they knew what Harris was talking about.
"Listen, kid..." Nash started.
Xander waved a hand and cut him off, "I'll deal. I've seen more horrifying things in my life, I've even seen sicker things in my life. I knew this one vamp... well, lets not get into him. It was just... the senselessness of the fact. They hadn't even fed on them... Just tortured them to hear the screams."
Both cops looked sickened by the thought, but Xander just continued. "You know, that's the thing about the vamps that really gets to me. I don't mind the feeding, even the killing. They're just predators. Sure they're dangerous ones that need to be put down, but that's just animal behavior, Its nothing personal. Turning people is the same thing, its just a way to continue the population. But the shit I saw last night..." Xander trailed off and shook his head, "They all gotta die man."
Nash looked at the kid in front of him, the kid with the cold eyes and the calm voice, and could only think of one thing to say. "Amen to that brother."
It was after midday before Xander left the SIU, mostly because the vampire hunters working out of there kept drawing him into conversations about their patrols and 'war stories'. All things considered, it was an interesting way to spend the morning.
Patches had been waiting for him by the van when he got back, and the two of them were soon caterwauling dangerously off key to the tunes on the radio while Xander guided the Van downtown.
"You sure this is the place?" Tommy was looking over the crowded promenade, watching the people as they went about their business.
"Yes I'm sure." Scarlet sounded exasperated, "for the fifth time. Xander will be here soon."
Snake Eyes remained silent as his eyes scanned the crowd, looking for anyone out of place. He smiled a moment later when he spotted the grinning face approaching their table. As Xander came closer he reached out and tapped his wife's shoulder, pointing her in the direction of the approaching teen.
"Hey guys! Been too long."
"Speak for yourself kid, Last time you showed up we found ourselves tracking down Dracula's ashes. Before that we had to take on a demon in the middle of L.A., and the time before THAT we found out that vampires were real. I'm not even going to think about the really weird missions." Tommy sounded disgusted, "We generally blame it all on St. Wolf, but frankly I think all you Section Seven people are jinxed."
Xander laughed as he grabbed a chair and dropped into it at the table. "Don't lay the blame on me Tommy, it was Scarlet and her hubby there that chose a route through Sunnydale. No one leaves that town the same as they entered it."
Scarlet glared at him, but her eyes were dancing with humor. Beside her, her husband was chucking silently, a fact that quickly earned him a shot to the ribs from his wife.
"Anyway," Xander continued before he could start laughing at the look in the poor man's eyes. "I come bearing gifts."
With that Xander passes the hard case across the table to Tommy.
"What's this?"
Xander grins, and shakes his head, "Third time in two days I go through this."
With that comment Xander starts explaining both the gift and its value to the three Ninjas. They accept the whole situation at face value with no comment and little enough emotion. Xander grinned again and shook his head. <The Immortals accepted it fairly well, but they were used to weird stuff. It took me three times to explain it to Nash and Joe. But this group, they just accept the whole spiel without comment. I wonder if its the Ninja deal or the fact that they were Covert Ops?>
Xander shrugged off the thought and waved over a waitress. "Hey, yeah, can I get a cheeseburger special and a coke please?"
The Ninja's made their orders as well and they and Xander settled down to enjoy conversation between colleagues.
"Casey, its Xander."
"Xander! Glad you made it to 'Frisco." Casey paused, "You did make it to 'Frisco right?"
"You bet Case. But look..." Xander trailed off, "I'm not sure if our little get together is such a good idea tonight."
Ryback sounded concerned when he came back, "Why? What's wrong?"
"Just a bad feeling Casey, but I think someone's tailing me. I had some troubles in L.A. last night."
"Tell me." Casey's voice was quiet, almost a whisper, but it brooked no argument.
Xander sighed into the cell phone and related the events of the past twenty four hours to the former SEAL in quick, clipped, military terms. He trusted the man to understand faster and more with less words then just about anyone else he knew, Steve excepted.
"Ok, the way I see it you need some help." The words sounded like advice but Xander could tell that he wasn't going to get away with a choice in the matter, "So I'll meet you tonight at the House of Soul as planned,"
Xander immediately tried to interrupt only to find Casey a step ahead.
"Alone. I'll let Tanya know what's up and leave her with her parents."
Xander sighed, "Look Casey, I don't want to cause you trouble on the home front."
The Navy SEAL laughed, a dry whispery sound. "If I didn't help you either my fiancé or my in-laws would kill me in the morning. That's assuming that Cordelia doesn't get to me first, and I'm not dumb enough to take bets against that."
Xander quickly smothered a chuckle of his own as he accepted the help being forced on him with as much grace as he could muster. Being typically Xander that was a good deal less grace then he would have liked.
House of Soul, San Francisco
27 December, 1998 - 19:30 PST
Xander walked into the House of Soul, his face impassive as the hidden scanners passes silently over him. He had to hand it to Domino, his people were good. If Steve hadn't let him in on that detail Xander doubted he would have noticed the unobtrusive electronics.
As he took his seat he nodded his head slightly at Domino, who was up on stage belting out a heavy tune to the distinct pleasure of the crowd. <Gotta be nice, man has a good outlet to relax after his 'night job'. Too bad I never had any musical talent to speak of.>
Xander watched as a black man he hadn't met before poked his head out and frantically signaled to Domino. When the man pointed in his direction Xander caught the exchange and smiled to himself when Johnny shook off the man's warning. <Nice to be among friends, especially professional friends.>
Xander was sipping at a tall coke when he saw Casey enter the club, looking distinctly out of place for some reason. Xander grinned when his military memories filled in the reason. Casey was moving like he was on patrol, scouting hostile territory. Xander wondered momentarily if anyone had noted the same thing about him when he walked in.
"Hey Case."
Casey returned the greeting as he grabbed a chair and sat down. Xander glanced up in amusement when the black guy popped back out and waved frantically to Johnny Domino.
"What are you packing Casey?"
Ryback looked at him strangely, "Not much, a couple Beretta's with demon killer rounds, half dozen extra clips of wood and silver. Couple knives, an Ingram, and a few wooden blades Steve gave me. Why?"
Xander grinned, "Well between you and me I think we're giving the guy monitoring the security scanners a heart attack."
Ryback glanced around quickly, "Security? What the hell?"
"Relax, I chose this place for more then the ambience. In fact, here comes one of the reasons now."
Xander pushed his chair back and stood in greeting to Johnny Domino, who had just finished his set and figured he'd better check on the people causing Raleigh's anxiety attacks.
"Xander." Johnny reached across and grabbed the kids pre-offered hand, "Good to see you again. Better circumstances I hope?"
Xander grinned at the look on Casey's face, "Yeah, no Dracula resurrection this time."
Casey shook his head disgustedly, "You have been around St. Wolf WAY to damn long kid."
Xander and Johnny laughed easily for a moment before simply grinning at the look on Casey's face.
"So, Xander, who's your friend?"
"Johnny, this is Casey Ryback. He's a fellow hunter, but I'm sure that your friend back there already communicated that to you." Xander said with a grin.
"Yeah, Raleigh looks like he's having a stroke." Johnny chuckled.
The group smiled and sipped their drinks as the band started up a solo set.
He walked into the night club thirty minutes after his target, hoping for a shot at the young man without the support system he seemed to attract. <No such luck. He's already got two people with him. What is it with this kid? I've tracked him from L.A. and every time he stops he winds up with a support crew around him.>
The man grabbed a table across the room from the kid, carefully sitting so he was facing the stage with the target clearly visible in the corner of his eye. Since L.A. he had taken a serious dislike to the kid's 'friends'. The first group he teamed up with turned out to be an Immortal Swat Team that hunted vamps and demons in L.A., a fact that still sent shivers up the man's spine. He unconsciously rubbed his neck when he thought of how close he came to discovery finding out that little tidbit of information. Between that first group, the Street thugs, and the SIU the man was seriously wondering if the pay on this job was enough.
He sighed, <A job is a job. Just need a way to cull the kid from his allies. Hmmm... Maybe I can use his allies instead?>
With that thought in mind the man finishes up his drink and quickly leaves the club.
Xander leans over the table in concern when he sees Johnny zone out for a moment.
"Are you all right?"
Johnny didn't hear the question, his mind was a blur of images. He could see a stranger with angry eyes shooting Xander with a large pistol, the blood flowing across the young man's chest as he dropped to his knees. Then came the sword. The man swung the blade across the boy's neck. Johnny winced as his vision turned to red.
"Johnny! Man! Come on, snap out of it!"
Johnny Domino shook his head clear and stood up quickly, his eyes scanning the room. <Where is he?>
Xander was at his side in an instant, his hands less then an inch from the Beretta riding on his hip. "Come on Johnny, what is it?"
Johnny starting moving across the room, beckoning Xander and Casey to follow him. "I'm looking for someone. Follow me."
Xander and Casey glanced at each other in concern but followed the tall man through the crowd to a door that led to the back.
"Raleigh!"
Johnny barged in, startling the man Xander had seen earlier. "Jeez Johnny, what the hell do you think your doing? They can't come in here!"
"Relax. They're friends. I need you to run the security cameras back a few minutes. I'm looking for someone I tuned into."
Raleigh gulped and nodded, running the digital image back until Johnny stopped him. "There. Thats the guy."
"What about him John?" Xander was confused.
Johnny looked grim, "I saw him shoot you kid, and then he took out a sword and lopped your head off."
Xander and Casey glanced at each other, confused and wary looks on their faces. Casey was the first to speak, "Uh... He didn't say anything did he?"
Johnny started to reply but Raleigh interrupted him. "Whoa. Hold on, You guy's are taking this at face value?" He turned to Johnny, concerned, "How many people have you been telling about yourself?"
Xander cut in, "He didn't tell us anything. Don't have a clue how he saw anything, but its far from the weirdest thing I've seen this year... or this week for that matter."
Raleigh looked from Casey to Xander before responding, "Right. Ok. I think I'm going to need an example."
Xander looked at Raleigh and shrugged, "Well, yesterday a character from a Shakespeare play gave me a Masterson Assault Cannon for Christmas."
Raleigh just stared at him, his face alternating from shock and disbelief. "A... a... a Masterson? I worked on that project. It was cancelled years ago... We couldn't figure out a way to pack enough ammo into the damn thing to make it practical."
Xander looked at Johnny with a smirk on his face, "You do notice that he completely skipped over the part about it being a character from a Shakespeare play that gave it to me right?"
Johnny grinned, "That's Ral